By John RittenhouseA Rock County sports legend died at the University of Minnesota-Fairview Hospital in Minneapolis Wednesday, March 15.Dick Wildung, a 1939 Luverne High School graduate, lived an 84-year life that was highlighted by football stardom and a successful business career.Wildung moved to Luverne when his family took over a grocery store in town in 1934. He started what would be a fulfilling football career as an eighth-grader.Like many of the players of the time, Wildung was a two-way starter as a lineman.Wildung turned into a top-notch football player during his days in Luverne, and his talents drew interest from the universities of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Alabama.Along with being a standout football player in Luverne, Wildung was a member of Luverne’s state tournament-qualifying basketball team in 1939,and was the Class of 1939 Salutatorian.Shortly after completing his senior football season in Luverne, University of Minnesota freshman coach Dallas Ward convinced Wildung that the school was right for the player.Wildung entered the University in the fall of 1939, but team rules wouldn’t allow freshmen to play with the varsity team back then.Wildung made up for it the next three years, earning a starting position as a tackle for two of then coach Bernie Bierman’s undefeated national championship teams in 1940 and 1941.Wildung was the team’s captain as a senior in 1942, the second of two straight seasons in which he made the All-American Team.The Green Bay Packers made Wildung their first-round draft choice in 1943. Wildung rejected their offer and enlisted in the United States Navy, serving as a lieutenant in a PT boat squadron during World War II.After leaving the Navy in 1946, he joined the Green Bay Packers for his rookie season that fall.Green Bay, which was coached by Curley Lameeau, didn’t win any championships during Wildung’s career, which spanned from 1946-1953. Wildung did make the All-Pro Team for five straight years from 1947-1951 and played in the National Football League’s first All-Pro Game in 1951. He was Green Bay’s team captain from 1948-1951.Wildung is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, the Minnesota Gopher Sports Hall of Fame, the Green Bay Packer Hall of Fame and the Rock County Hall of Fame.After retiring from football in 1953, Wildung spent the next seven years working at a hardware store he owned in Redwood Falls. In 1959, he sold highway and mining equipment for Brochert-Ingersoll, Inc., until retiring in 1983.His obituary appears on page 9A.